While targeted at older audiences (20s-30s), the Onion A.V. Club covers a broad range of pop culture topics, including music, movies, video games, comics and more.  Unlike the Onion, though, the news and stories are all real, though they still approach the subject matter with some humour.  Think of it as the online version of your local alternative newspaper, without the, ahem, 'adult' classifieds in the back or the boring local politics.

The website usually delves into the deeper recesses and lesser lights of the entertainment industry, covering bands that don't make the Top 40 and movies that don't win the weekend box office (though they still do that, though generally just to mock them): things that a lot of clever and with-it teenagers seek out to escape the norm.  For example, today's features are an interview with Mark Hamill and a video of They Might Be Giants performing Chumbawamba's Tubthumping.

More relevant to us here is the occasional features that they put up, in this case, the A.V. Club Inventory.  Roughly every week, they produce a list on a random topic, like "11 Videogames That Prompted Fear and Outrage" or "6 Keanu Reeves Movies Somehow Not Ruined by Keanu Reeves".  The lists were compiled into book format and they added a few by celebrities.

The lists are of a general theme, not so much just enumerating movies and songs, but actually giving a short discussion of the merits (or lack thereof) of the subject matter.  While they are often oddly specific (the full title is Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists, with emphasis on Obsessive), they often lead to new discoveries, something kids that age are looking for, something obscure that will make them feel special.

Not all of the lists are family-friendly, but that's not unusual for books of lists, and is in fact part of the appeal, the risque.  That does mean that this is more appropriate for older teens, 16 and up, partly because of the mature themes of some of the lists, but also because the older kids are more likely to know the topics of discussion.

It's not often these days that I come across a fantasy novel that I would stay up past my bedtime to read. I was happy to discover that Beyonders is one of these books.

Jason is just a regular high middle school kid who loves baseball and animals. While volunteering at the zoo one day, he hears strange music coming from the hippo and falls into its mouth... and into the world of Lyrian. In his attempt to find his way back to his world, he stumbles on a creepy book bound in skin (complete with a blinking human eye) and learns about a magical word that will defeat the evil magician currently ruling Lyrian. He is suddenly being hunted down by soldiers, giant boarhounds, and other scary creatures and embarks on a quest to find all the syllables of the magical word before he is disposed of. Along the way he is joined by Rachel, another girl from his world who has also been mysteriously transported to Lyrian, and Farin, a creature who can detach his limbs at will. To find the syllables, they must battle man eating crabs, get across a quicksand lake, survive a treacherous swamp full of poisonous snakes and bugs, all the while trying to evade the evil magician's minions.

I was a bit wary at first since the idea of falling into a hippo's mouth seemed a bit far-fetched, but as a read on, I found that the plot moved well and that the magical world was definitely intriguing enough to keep me interested. The characters are complex enough that you're not always sure whether they are good or bad, and there's a great twist at the end. ( I don't want to reveal too much or I'll spoil it for those of you who might read this book!) While this is often classified under children's fantasy, I would recommend it to teens looking for a fast paced, easy to read fantasy.

Brandon Mull is also the author of the Fablehaven series (which I am now planning to read as well). This is the first in the Beyonders series, and I can't wait to read the sequel...

It's a strange sensation, Isaac thought as he put his hands into the mirror box. It's like he has three arms. Being a big fan of optical illusions, he is really excited when he found the box the previous owners of his house have left behind. Isaac can totally see how this can make amputees feel like they still have both arms, and take away the phantom pain.
He wishes something can make his mom feel better. She's been in the hospital for a while now, even though she's admitted with something pretty minor.  
Then he saw it. The arm moves. No, not his own, but the one reflected in the mirror. It is now waving at him.  Isaac quickly withdraws his hands from the box, but the arm... It is still there. 
After just a dozen pages, I knew I want to booktalk this. The concept is awesome.  You can either take the mirror box angle, or the serial killer one (yes there is a serial killer on the loose).  The problem though, is that the story falters with too many implausible happenings, especially the stuff at the hospital. Even the bullies don't seem very realistic.  The hospital visits get repetitive and frustrating without progressing the storyline, and it is really difficult to believe that Isaac will get dragged not once but twice for some strange procedures in the hospital.  When the most believable thing in the whole story is the ghost, there is a slight problem.
Thank you Amulet Books for making this eGalley available on netGalley.
 
Do you booktalk mediocre books that you know will draw potential readers in?  Tell us in the comment section.

Last Tuesday, School Library Journal hosted a webinar called "Books for Boys". Jon Scieszka moderated the talk, and representatives from Simon & Schuster, Random House Books on Tape and Candlewick talked about recent and upcoming books for boys of all ages.
Scieszka started the talk by introducing his Guys Read website, which has some pretty interesting booklists (my favourite being "At least one explosion"). They've also got a "start a guys read field office" initiative and their guys read charter.
I've included their slides here (PDF). Thanks for giving us permission to put this up, SLJ!
Which titles are you most excited about? Leave us a comment.
p.s. I know this is not really for teens, but I need to give a shout out to Mac Barnett's It Happened on a Train. It's one of the funniest things I've read.

It should be obvious that I won't actually set out the plot of this book in too much detail.  If there is anyone out there who hasn't read it, I'd be shocked.  This book is required reading in pretty much every English-speaking school in the world, and probably in other languages as well.

So why should I even mention it?

Well, think about it like this:  Let's say you, as an adult, absolutely love reading, and wish you could promote every excellent book you read to 13-to 16-year-old boys.  You tell them that there is a particularly interesting book out there that involves a plane crash, a deserted island with mysterious beasts, a bunch of youngish boys and no adult supervision.  And best of all, it's violent and has been banned in many places at one point or another.  (There is also that gross pig's head on the cover which helps.)

Sounds pretty cool...  then you tell them to analyze it chapter by chapter to investigate the meaning of pretty much everything that happens.

I tell you, that's pretty much the worst thing you can do, and will make the kids never trust another adult again when they recommend a book.  Reading is now a chore, no matter how good the book might be.

So here is why I mention this classic: so that you give it to them before it is assigned in class.  I know, I know.  It's violent.  It's got language.  It's difficult. It has concepts we might not want kids to read just yet.  I say too late to worry about that.  I've already recommended Battle Royale, and we all know how popular The Hunger Games books are.  These things are plenty of the above as well.  Here is one that, should a reluctant parent hesitate to give those other books a try, would certainly not mind their kid taking a classic.

Alex Van Helsing's last name has always been the subject of vampire jokes, and he himself has never taken the idea of blood-sucking monsters seriously -- until he is attacked by a girl with white skin and fangs. His father has told him all his life that "such things do not happen" but Alex know something strange is going on. One night, he sees one of his teachers at his boarding school sneak off on his motorcycle and follows him to discover that not only are vampires real, but that there is a network of vampire hunters, of which his family used to be a part of. The Polidorium -- vampire hunters -- have been tracking a dangerous vampire clan lord to find Scholomance, a secret vampire training centre. The next evening two of Alex's friends are kidnapped by the vampire lord. Alex and his teacher know they need to find Scholomance and rescue them before it's too late.
In an earlier posting, I mentioned how difficult it is to find vampires that are the traditional scary, blood-thirsty type found in Stoker's Dracula. The ones in this novel are more along those lines: white skin, long fangs, superhuman strength, and looking for human blood (actually it seems that some of the vampires in this story also want to eat human flesh). What's different is that these vampires mix technology and supernatural power, go through school/training (I find this kind of comical -- why would you need to go through training if you are naturally/impulsively evil already?) and are more on a quest for power and immortality, rather than vulnerable females. Fortunately, none of the vampires here are swooning for humans or going to high school (though there's reason to believe that Alex's teacher may have vampire blood in him).
The story itself is predictable and cliche, but it reads alright as a no-brainer action novel. There's the usual vampire lore with stakes, silver bullets and relics; weaponry (crossbows, guns, knives), some good chase scenes and explosions. No romance yet (though there is potential with one of the main female characters) and the writing is pretty passable. This is the first in a series.

Piotr is very aware of his nakedness, even among all the equally naked boys. He doesn't know where his eyes should look, or can look, especially with all the soldiers and their rifles watching them closely.
Then it's his turn to enter the Race and Settlement Main Office. All sorts of strange medical instruments lie scattered on the table, waiting to measure him, to deliver their judgment. However, the two white-coated men only takes a quick measure of his ear and sends him away. "We hardly need to bother...he looks just like that boy in the Hitler-Jugend poster".
I don't like historical fiction. I especially don't like historical fiction about wars, so Auslander is way out of my comfort zone, but Dowswell's meticulous details and well-paced narrative draws me in and keeps me in his haunting world. I read that the author has also written several non-fiction on World War II, and you can tell he knows his stuff.
The gripping first chapters, which describes the screening process to see if Piotr is "racially valuable" and worthy of reclamation, reads like the beginning of a dystopian novel, but better, because this is not mere fiction.  The exploration of the whole "racial hygiene" and "racial science" beliefs is frightening and fascinating at the same time, and it adds another level to the story.  Piotr, renamed "Peter", the German version of his name, moves from Warsaw to Berlin and is recommended for adoption into a prestigious German family. Despite his seemingly successful  assimilation into his new family and his new world, he is an "Auslander", a foreigner, and will remain so, as he gradually and painfully realizes.  His aspiration to be a Luftwaffe pilot and to serve the Fuhrer is slowly replaced by his horrors at the "one hundred percenters" who will do and believe anything the Nazis dictate. Even though you think the author will probably let Peter live at the end of the book, his life is in danger right till the last chapter on the very last page. It's intense.
» Visit the author's website

It's weird how some books look like issues books, but either hide it really well or aren't issues at all.  Trash is a good example, because while it is set in the landfills of an unnamed Asian nation (probably the Philippines based on various clues in the novel) and features large populations of homeless people living in those dumps, it's pretty much a straight adventure-mystery.  I expected a lot more commentary on the plight of the people, but while you do get the sense that life sucks for thee people, it's not what the story is about.